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As he walked through the streets of Elsia beside the girl, he watched her out of the corner of her eye, which she noticed quickly as she huffed.

“…I swore on ‘Aerium The Great’, didn’t I?” Reno asked.

“Well…” He wryly smiled.

“You have no idea, do you?! Children of Aerium can’t break a promise like that!” Reno looked at him.

The girl was quite loud in her words, drawing attention from the goers of the city as he glanced around, not much of a fan of all the unwanted gazes.

“Err, sure…” He nervously scratched his cheek.

“Good,” Reno held a satisfied smile, “…Still, I think the better question is why I should trust you?”

“Huh?” He raised an eyebrow to the girl.

“I just tried to steal from you, and you’re being all nice to me…Fishy doesn’t cut it,” Reno looked at him suspiciously.

It definitely was an understandable question as he was perplexed by it as well. There wasn’t much of a straight, logical answer he could give to the girl as he walked beside her.

“…Well, I guess I just want to try being better in this life,” he mumbled.

“What?” Reno looked at him.

“Oh, I just meant–I think it’s a waste to only make enemies, you know? It’s a whole lot more beneficial to make friends!” He laughed it off.

Luckily, it seemed the girl didn’t catch on to his even more suspicious words that he had whispered.

Reno shrugged her shoulders and placed her hands behind her head in a tomboyish walk, “You’re weird, you know that? In this world…that type of thinking is what’s going to get you in trouble.”

Those words were spoken from a place of experience from the young girl who shouldn’t have had to gain such a callused view on the world, but had one anyway._.

“Anyway, where are we going?” He asked.

Reno glanced at him, “I knew it–you’re a total stranger to Elsia, aren’t you?”

He nodded, “Yeah? Was it that obvious?”

“Why do you think I chose you to snatch from?” Reno chuckled.

“–“

It definitely made sense; compared to the majority of people who seemed at least familiar with the bustling city, he had been gawking and taking it in the whole time.

Reno laughed, “Well, I know a place with great grub!”

“Lead the way,” he sighed.

As he followed her through the city, he took in the sights to try and establish some sort of mental map, though he was mostly enamored by the surprisingly tall architecture for medieval times and the well-armored adventurers that passed by.

“Hey, what happened to those goons you were with?” He asked.

“Goons–oh, you mean those three from before?” Reno looked at him.

He nodded, “Yeah, them.”

Reno sighed, “Well, they just partnered up with me because I’m pretty good at what I do, you know? They wanted in, and I didn’t see a problem with a little protection.”

“Good?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t get cocky just because you–ugh,” Reno sighed and furrowed her eyebrows, “…You’re really annoying, you know that?”

“I’ve heard that once or twice.”

Through the city, he followed her for quite a ways, turning corners and descending stairs to lower sections of Elsia, though as they went deeper into the city, its flourishing state became more and more rugged.

The crowded nature of the city began to lessen as the streets became more quiet, the rich architecture shifted into dingy houses, and the stone pavement became streets of dirt.

…Where are we? He wondered.

It felt as if he had stepped into a new world entirely without realizing it as he looked in front of him at the young girl who led the way.

“…Are we going the right way? Where are we?” He asked.

Reno spun around, spreading her arms out as if introducing the area to him, “Welcome to the place that “nobody cares about”; where dreams die as they’re born: the Elsia slums.”

“–“

It made sense to him now, seeing the state of the secluded section of the city: there was no development of roads, houses were made of clay, tending to be small and of basic shapes, and trash littered the dirt trails.

There weren’t many people to be seen, though those that could be were quietly sitting on their porches or the street-side, dirty and wearing tattered clothes.

It was a culture shock, for sure.

“…I see. Is this where you live?” He asked.

Reno hesitated for a moment before nodding, “Yeah, but don’t lump me in with these guys.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not planning on accepting my fate lying down. If the world wants to put us down, so be it. If they want to accept that, that’s their problem–they’re losers, anyway. I won’t accept it, though,” Reno said, looking up towards the sky, “…I’ll make it out of here someday. I just need money.”

“I see,” he said quietly.

Reno stopped and turned around, pointing right at him, “That’s why I snatched that bag off of you!”

“I gathered that already!” He snapped back.

“Well, just making sure you knew,” Reno huffed, turning back around, “…I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, thinking I’m one of those vain girls who spends money on pretty clothes and sparkly jewels.”

Watching her now, he definitely lost what little amount of bitterness or spite he held towards the sapphire-eyed girl, seeing where she was coming from.

It’s not that having an unfortunate life makes it okay to steal, but…that also doesn’t mean I can’t try to make this right, he thought.

“Well, I don’t think you need fancy clothes or anything like that,” he sighed.

“Huh?” Reno looked back at him with a surprised look.

He scratched his head as he walked beside her, “I just think you’re doing good enough already–that’s all.”

A small blush came over the girl’s cheeks before she laughed it off, folding her arms over her chest as her small snaggle tooth was apparent amidst her laugh, “I am, aren’t I? That’s right!”

“–” He glanced at her nervously.

Maybe I should avoid complimenting her. She’s got enough of an ego as it is, somehow, he thought.

As he sighed out, he glanced around, noticing that there wasn’t exactly any sight of thriving businesses. It looked to just completely be a residential area, though it was difficult to tell since most of the buildings looked similar.

A lot of these homes had boarded-up windows, which made it difficult to tell if they were occupied or not.

“–You never answered me: where’s this place you’re taking me to? What is it?” He asked.

Part of why he was asking this question was certainly that the slums made him just a tad bit nervous, seeing shady figures watching him as he passed by. There was no doubt that he stuck out like a sore thumb with his fancy outfit and equipment he held.

Reno marched confidently without a worry, however, “You’ll see! Just be patient!”

“…Alright,” he nodded.

The girl seemed to notice the anxiousness in his amethyst eyes as she lightly elbowed him in the side.

“What was that for?” He glared at her.

“Don’t worry about these guys. They’re total wimps. You’re with me–so they won’t lay a finger on you,” Reno laughed, pointing her finger forward and making a motion as if casting a spell, “–And if they do try anything, you’ve got that crazy staff there!”

The words she gave him were anything but reassuring when she also had to mention he had his staff for protection, though he didn’t particularly enjoy the idea of having to use it here.

“Yeah, yeah,” he sighed.

A small river ran through the slums, to which the two had to cross over a dingy bridge to get to the other section of the less-than-affluent area of Elsia.

“–” He looked down wryly.

As he took slow, careful steps, he could feel the crooked planks below shifting and creaking beneath his weight.

On the other hand, Reno was practically skipping over the bridge without a care, crossing it quickly as she waited for him on the other side, “C’mon, slowpoke!”

“Easy for you to say…” He mumbled.

Gathering his courage, he hopped to the other side with a few quick steps, not wanting to risk staying on the unsteady bridge for any longer than he had to.

“Good job! Knew you had it in you!” Reno patronized him teasingly.

“–” He sighed.

As they both moved forward once again, Reno came to a sudden stop in front of him as he had closed his eyes momentarily while fixing his hair.

Opening his eyes, he saw the girl frozen in front of him, “Hey, what’s up?”

Though he saw the reason once realizing there was a man standing directly in front of the young girl, looming over her.

He had a bristly, jet-black goatee and shaggy locks of a matching complexion, having sharp, olive eyes that held a certain glint of avarice in them.

It was clear he wasn’t a slum-dweller by his clothes, which he wore a black-and-silver coat with matching pants and a leather vest beneath. The man’s gloves were black, as was the sheath attached to his hip.

Who is this guy? He wondered.

“Thought I’d find you here, Reno. Though…who’s the kid? A little boyfriend, perhaps?” The man asked with a smile that was anything but benevolent.

“–” He returned the man’s gaze.

The mysterious figure was likely middle-aged by the slight wrinkling to his light-tan face; it didn’t make much sense to him what a grown man would have to do with the girl.

“He’s a friend,” Reno responded to the man.

It was a surprising answer for him, but he felt butterflies flutter in his stomach from that answer. But, what little brief respite he felt was squashed as he realized the confident, sapphire-eyed girl was averting her gaze from the man, who tried to look at her, but she tried her best to avoid eye contact.

She’s…scared of him, he realized.

The man rubbed his chin with his sable glove before glancing at the young boy, “Oh, I see. It’s like that, then. Well, get to it–I’m expecting my payment by tonight. If I don’t have it, well…”